Two Faced
by Phate Phoenix
Summary: YGOHMD Ryou Bakura thought it was only the flu. He was wrong. Now House and his team must figure out what is ailing the young Duelist, while trying to figure out if Ryou’s strange mood-swings are part of his symptoms or something else entirely...
1. Atrophic Albino

**TITLE**: Two-Faced  
**AUTHOR**: Phate_Phoenix  
**PAIRING**: House/Wilson small(eventually)/small, Tendershipping small(if you're _really_ looking for it)/small  
**RATING**: PG-13  
**WARNINGS**: Crossover with _Yu-Gi-Oh!_  
**SUMMARY**: Ryou Bakura thought it was only the flu. He was wrong. Now House and his team must figure out what is ailing the young Duelist, while trying to figure out if Ryou's strange, and sometimes _violent_, mood-swings are part of his symptoms or something else entirely…  
**DISCLAIMER**: I do not own _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ or _House M.D._  
**NOTES**: Has an actual _interesting_ medical case! Odd symptoms? Check! Odd patient? Check! Odd illness? Check! We're good to go! You might want some background knowledge of _Yu-Gi-Oh!_, but I think you can get by without.

**Timeline for House MD**: After 'THE GREATER GOOD', before 'UNFAITHFUL'  
**Timeline for YGO**: After Battle City, sometime during the Dragons Arc. Gets rather 'AU' from there.

--

**Chapter One: Atrophic Albino**

From underneath a bundle of blankets rose a low groan. Beside the bed stood a blue-haired man, arms crossed, tapping his foot. Agitation was glowing in his bright green eyes. He reached out and nudged the lump, frowning. When the lump made no further attempt to move, the green eyes narrowed in frustration.

"Ryou," the man said, voice sharp with aggravation, "get up. You still need to pack. And don't tell me you're still sick- you've had the 'flu' for over a week now. We're heading back to Japan _today_."

Ryou coughed dryly, pushing the blankets away from his white-haired head. His brown eyes were half-closed. "Sorry, Father," he mumbled. He ran a hand through his tangled mess of hair, wincing with every movement his aching body would make.

The man raised an eyebrow at him. "_Are_ yousick?" he asked, disbelief evident in his tone. Ryou shrugged, but winced as he got out of bed. As he shuffled around the bed and to the window to open the blinds, his father sighed. Turning around and marching out of Ryou's room, he called over his shoulder, "That's it. I'm taking you to the doctors today. Get dressed, have some coffee. Just be ready in twenty minutes."

Ryou watched the man leave before he exhaled, leaning against the white wall of the hotel room he was staying in. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, feeling every ache in his muscles as he moved towards his suitcase at the foot of his bed. His father was right, of course- he'd been sick for over a week, and there was no sign of him getting better. As he dug around from some mostly clean socks, he felt a familiar stirring in the back of his mind.

'_Oh by Apophis… are you _still_ unwell_?' came the annoyed chastisement from the spirit.

Ryou ignored him as he went on in dressing. After the fiasco that was Battle City, Yami Bakura had taken up a permanent residence in the back of Ryou's mind, even though the Millennium Ring itself was currently halfway around the world in Japan with Yuugi Mutou. According to the Spirit, he had split his soul so that the main portion resided within Ryou, and a smaller part remained with the Ring. Something about always having a host this way. Ryou wasn't so sure that was the real reason- the Spirit of the Ring had probably saved his life back on Kaiba's blimp by throwing himself in front of the Dragon of Ra's attack. That, and Bakura _had_ been better to him lately, key word being _better_. Ryou had lost track of how many times he came back to himself, hours later, sleeping in his hotel room, with no idea what had happened the day before.

But Ryou was getting used to it.

'_Fix this shell, Yadonushi, or I'll break into a Pharmacy and fix it myself_.'

Ryou sighed and then coughed loudly into his hands, feeling the aches running up and down his body. He groaned softly, straightening and walking forward. '_Father is taking me to the doctor's today. They'll give me some medicine that should relieve the symptoms_.'

He could feel Bakura roll his eyes. The spirit never did anything to personal as take a spiritual form- it was either all or nothing with him. '_Your father was the one to drag us to America in the first place_,' Bakura snapped. 'Away_ from the Pharaoh and his brat. Here, you got sick. It's _his_ fault_.'

'_Probably_,' Ryou admitted, wandering into the main room of the hotel suite and pouring a cup of sub-par coffee from the tiny coffee pot on top of the microwave, '_but he's spending time with me. He hasn't done that in awhile_.'

Bakura went silent for a moment, and then Ryou felt him settle in the back of his mind, like a cat curling onto a pillow. '_Fix this and get me back to Japan_,' he growled, and the link went silent.

Ryou sighed, massaging his forehead. Life with a vengeful thief in the back of one's mind made life so much more interesting….

--

Gregory House slipped in through the automatic doors of Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, glancing around cautiously, carefully. He was toeing a treacherous line, he realized, especially since it had come to light that the line might be booby trapped with tripwire. House ended up being two hours late to work (again), but he had not meant to oversleep this time. He had hit the snooze button on his alarm and, in doing so, knocked it from his nightstand and unplugged it from the wall. It was only when Wilson had called him three hours later that House realized his error. The diagnostician scanned the clinic quickly, wondering if he should test his luck in trying to dart across the room to the elevator. Sure, he was slow, but if he tried to move without limping….

"Glad to see you at work, Doctor House."

Busted.

House turned around to face down the blue-eyed dragon behind him. He sneered at her. "Ah, it's Momma Bear." He eyed the tell-tale spit up stain on Cuddy's low-cut brown blouse. "And I take it Baby Bear is somewhere nearby?"

Cuddy had decided that instead of taking out her woes on House's leg, she would fix it herself. Thus, every Tuesday and Thursday Cuddy brought the Vominator into the building with her. Those days, the nurse station was put on Baby Call, just in case Cuddy was needed somewhere in the building. The first time, House had tried to keep her busy the whole day. By noon, House decided that she and the munchkin could have Tuesdays and Thursdays, just as long as House never saw another waxed floor _again_.

Cuddy glanced at her shoulder and then back towards her office, where one of the nurses was standing and bouncing the infant. She looked back at him. "Yes. Isn't it funny that Rachel, who is less than a year old, is more punctual that you?"

House frowned at her. "That's not fair. She carpools."

Cuddy began to walk back to her office. "Why are you late today, anyway?"

"Same reason as always," House said as they entered her office, making sure to speak loud and clear once the doors were closed, "internet porn and hookers."

The nurse stared at House, horrified that he would speak such language in front of a baby. Cuddy scowled at him, taking Rachel from the nurse. "Thank you Cindy," she said. The nurse smiled back at her and quickly left the room. House leaned on his cane.

"So, what have you got for me?" he asked. "Any exploding eyeballs? Tell me you've got an interesting case."

Cuddy raised an eyebrow at him. "Afraid not," she said, leaning against her desk as she gently rocked the drooling creature in her arms. House stared at her, and Cuddy shrugged, smirking.

"You _have_ to do clinic hours."

"But Mommy, I don't _want to_!"

House knew he was going to lose this battle- he had been shirking off his clinic hours for the past few days because of a most interesting case of interstitial cystitis that took _forever_ to diagnose. Now that the patient was on his way to recovery, Cuddy had no reason to hold back. She now stood before him, glaring, one hand planted on her hip while the other gently bounced the three month old pinkish blob with a mop of dark hair named Rachel. She smiled at him, mockingly.

"We've been over this before, haven't we?" she said, turning and walking around her desk, and Rachel let out gurgling giggle. Cuddy sat the pink-clothed baby on her desk before handing her a small stuffed duck. "You can't always get what you want."

House mock-gasped. "You love the new baby more than me!"

"I do, House. Now get out."

He stuck out his tongue at her before turning around and heading towards the clinic. A lackluster attempt, really, but he currently had nothing to barter with, and he wasn't going to risk getting more hours tacked onto his already monstrous amount. He limped towards the main desk and pulled a red folder at random, glancing at it only to get the room number. Then he made his way towards the pale blue door and entered promptly.

"Room service?" he said as he made his way inside, scanning the occupants of the room with a quick glance. Two males were in the room, father and son if House's guess was correct, and he usually was. The eldest, with shocking blue hair and green eyes, was standing near the window, far from the door and the examination table, and a younger male, with white hair and light brown eyes, was sitting on the examination table and blinking owlishly at House. The pale teenaged male smiled a bit before coughing dryly into his hand. The father stepped forward, extending his hand to House.

"Ren Bakura," he said. When House merely wandered by him, Ren dropped his hand and cleared his throat awkwardly. He gestured to the white-haired teen. "This is Ryou. He's been sick with flu for over a week now, and since we're leaving the country later today, I wanted to make sure he'd be in good health."

House raised an eyebrow at the older man before looking at Ryou himself. "So, you're an albino?" he asked simply as he flipped through the file, taking note of the several different hospitalizations that the teen had, most of them dealing with some sort of stab wound. How odd.

Ryou blinked a few times, nodding his head. "Yes," he responded. "Is that relevant?"

"No," House said as he began to lay out a few tools to use, "but I don't see albinos very often, so you're kind of a freak to me."

Ryou blinked rapidly but his lips twitched in a smile. "Oh," Ryou said, eyes bright, "if that's all…"

Ren looked over at the two of them before pulling out a book to look through. House went through the motions of the examination, glad to have an easy case first-thing. Maybe he could slack off for half an hour in here before going off to another case. Had he brought his portable TV? First, though, he had to be a _doctor_.

"Well, you have some swelling in your lymph nodes," House said, spinning on the turn-table stool to grab his prescription pad, "and you have the lovely dry cough. Slight fever, throat's raw, muscle aches- I'd say you have the flu, but what do I know? I'm just a doctor."

Ryou smiled at him and took the prescription note from House and stood. "Thank you," he said, nodding. House simply turned around, fiddling with the drawers, and pretended to write something down on Ryou's file, while the other two gathered their things and prepared to leave. General Hospital reruns would be on in a few minutes, he thought, patting his right thigh to make sure he did indeed have his tiny TV stored away in his white lab coat pocket. Perfect.

Almost.

"Whoa!"

The cry and subsequent stumbling and banging made House spin back around on the stool, raising his eyebrows. The sight before him caused House reach for his cane. Ryou was clutching tightly to the door handle, placing far more weight on it than was necessary. His brown eyes were wide with horror as they stared down at his legs. Ren Bakura was standing stiffly a few paces behind Ryou, holding his jacket over one arm.

"Ryou?" he asked. "What's wrong?"

Ryou turned his eyes upon Doctor House, and the diagnostician could see the fear and _curiosity_ that boiled within their brown depths.

"My-my leg," Ryou began, and House saw the teen try to put weight on the rather limp left limb to no avail, "it… won't let me stand on it…"

House pushed himself to his feet, limping towards Ryou. None too gently, he kicked Ryou's nonresponsive leg.

"Ow!" Ryou yelped, hopping away from House and the door. He leaned heavily against the nearest wall. Ren looked between his son and House, but the doctor had only eyes for Ryou.

"You have feeling in your leg," House said, a small smirk crossing his lips. Cautiously, Ryou nodded.

"Yes… I just can't move it."

House grinned, gesturing to the examination table. "Well, take a seat! Apparently what you have is _not_ the flu." As Ryou hopped over to the examination table, dragging the afflicted leg, House poked his head out of the exam room. "I'm going to need a wheelchair!" he called, and a nurse darted out of sight.

Ren looked over at Ryou, brushing a strand of blue hair out of his face. "What…" he began, and then looked over at House. "What's wrong with him?"

Both father and son had their eyes upon House once more, and the blue-eyed-man could only shrug. "I have no idea," he said cheerfully, and dry-swallowed a Vicodin before he continued, "but I'm going to figure it out."


	2. Inquisitive Interns

**TITLE**: Two-Faced  
**AUTHOR**: Phate_Phoenix  
**PAIRING**: House/Wilson (_eventually_), Tendershipping (_if you're really looking for it_)  
**RATING**: PG-13  
**WARNINGS**: Crossover with _Yu-Gi-Oh!_  
**SUMMARY**: Ryou Bakura thought it was only the flu. He was wrong. Now House and his team must figure out what is ailing the young Duelist, while trying to figure out if Ryou's strange, and sometimes _violent_, mood-swings are part of his symptoms or something else entirely…  
**DISCLAIMER**: I do not own _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ or _House M.D._  
**NOTES**: Hey! Wow, I didn't know that Yu-Gi-Oh! and House had so much fan cross-over. XD Glad to see it though! Quick: I have the chapters through Four done, and they are all posted on my LiveJournal, if any of you want to read ahead. (I should have a link there on my profile by now). Once I've caught up (a chapter every few days or so), I'll start posting here and on LiveJournal simultaneously. :D So, enjoy the quick updates while they last!

_On Albinism_: Some of my reviewers have mentioned this, and I just wanted to address it quickly. :D There is a myth that those with albinism can only have red or pink eyes, and this is actually _false_. Especially in humans, there have been multiple cases of blue, violet, hazel, and even brown eyes. I don't blame anyone, however, for not knowing this. XD It took a bit of research before I found it, too.

**Timeline for House MD**: After 'THE GREATER GOOD', before 'UNFAITHFUL'

**Timeline for YGO**: After Battle City, sometime during the Dragons Arc. Gets rather 'AU' from there.

--

**Chapter Two: Inquisitive Interns  
**

House was standing by the whiteboard, leaning on his cane, as the rest of his team came into the conference room. He was drumming his fingers across the top of the light-colored wood, staring out the glass walls behind them and into the hallway instead of at his actual team. Taub and Kutner looked at one another as they walked into the room before taking a seat. Thirteen was staring hard at the board, raising her eyebrows. House had already written on it, large black letters splashed across its surface:

_**MUSCLE ACHES  
**__**DRY COUGH  
**__**SWOLLEN LYMPH NODES  
**__**FEVER  
**__**LOSS OF APPETITE  
**__**MUSCLE WEAKNESS**_

House limped to his chair. "Sixteen year old male came into the clinic this morning, complaining of the flu," he said, pushing the file across the table and towards Thirteen. "As he was leaving, his leg gave out on him." He sat down, tossing his cane onto the table with a loud clattering noise. "Any suggestions?" House grinned. "Besides kicking him. Did that, he feels pain."

Taub stared at him. "You kicked a patient?"

House waved him off. "I figured caning him was too harsh. Suggestions?"

Kutner blinked at the board, but it was Foreman who gave House an annoyed and bored look. "The flu?" he said, eyebrow arching. "It fits all the symptoms, including muscle weakness." Foreman took the folder from Thirteen, scanning it. "You just like this case because the kid has albinism."

Kutner perked up at that, leaning forward in his chair. "Seriously? I've never seen an albino before," he said. Foreman glared at him over the top of the file.

"He isn't a zoo animal."

Kutner flushed. "I know," he grumbled. "I'm just saying…."

Foreman ignored Kutner, and House ignored Foreman. Instead, he turned to the rest of the group, scowling at them. "Someone has to have an idea for what could cause this."

Thirteen frowned at the board, shaking her head slightly. "I don't see anything strange or weird here," she admitted, turning to House. "It just looks like a really bad case of the flu."

House scowled at her. "He gave you a brain tumor, and you _agree_ with him?" Thirteen blinked at him blankly. House leered at Foreman. "You must be _really_ good, huh?"

Foreman just rolled his eyes, and House looked over at Taub and Kutner, raising an eyebrow at them. The two looked at each other, and then Kutner shrugged lightly. "Could be Brucellosis…?"

House grinned, leaning back in his chair. "There we go. Taubner go test for Brucellosis. Foreteen, go take some samples to test for Influenza."

Taub and Kutner stared at House while Thirteen and Foreman walked away, smirking at one another. Taub gestured between himself and the man beside him. "We're not… I mean… you can't_ call_ us that!"

House gave him a bewildered look. "But _everybody_'s doing it!"

Wilson chose that moment to walk into the room, holding two cups of coffee. Kutner grinned at Taub as the oncologist gave House one of the two Styrofoam cups. "C'mon," the sports medicine specialist said, "let's leave _Houson_ to their coffee date."

Taub smirked and then winked at the two department heads, causing Wilson to choke on his coffee while House poked his cane at Taub. "Get out of our portmanteau!"

Kutner and Taub snickered and left the room, taking the forgotten file with them. Kutner began to leaf through the different pieces of paper. He paused, reading something over.

"Hey, listen to this!" he said, nudging Taub. The plastic surgeon leaned over a bit, and Kutner ran his finger down a paragraph. "This kid has been in the hospital three times in the past _two years_. The log says that all but one were accidents of sorts- the one was a mugging- but some of the doctors felt these could be self-inflicted wounds."

Taub pulled the file from him, and then glanced over at Kutner. "You thinking Munchausen syndrome?"

Kutner shrugged, pausing a few feet from the door. "Maybe, but the kid could just have some seriously rotten luck."

"Hmm," was all Taub said. Just as they were about to go in, Thirteen and Foremen slipped out, holding their test samples in their hands. Thirteen frowned at them and came closer, Foreman following along.

"Well, his leg is somewhat better now," she said, sounding dubious. She then leaned forward, looking from side to side to ensure no one could hear them. "We think it might be-"

"Munchausen?" Taub said, raising an eyebrow. Foreman nodded, and Kutner shook the file in his hands.

"We got that, too."

Foreman looked at where a few nurses were stationed and nodded at them. "I've asked a few nurses to keep an eye on him, make sure he doesn't do something to himself."

Kutner frowned. "You think he would?"

Foreman shrugged one shoulder. "If it means people pay attention to him more, then yes."

Foreman and Thirteen then walked around Taub and Kutner, leaving the two to deal with the possibly-mental patient. Unable to waste any more time, the two slid into the hospital room. On the bed was their white-haired patient, sorting through a large stack of vividly colored cards. His father, meanwhile, was on the other side of the room on a brown-colored laptop. He had headphones on and a notepad and pen on his thigh. Taub cleared his throat, and Ryou looked up at him, his hands stilling. He smiled at him, setting the deck of cards onto the bedside table.

"Oh, hello," he said. "You must be the other two doctors that Doctor Foreman and Doctor Hadley spoke of."

Kutner blinked a few times before he smiled. "Oh, you mean Thirteen." At Ryou's confused look, he explained. "We call Doctor Hadley 'Thirteen'."

Ryou smiled at him, nodding. "Interesting nickname."

Kutner snickered as Taub went to ready a needle to draw blood. "Story behind it is even better," Kutner said. "I'm Doctor Kutner and this is Doctor Taub." Taub gave the teen a slight wave as he inspected a needle he was holding. Kutner smiled at Ryou. "We're going to need some blood to test you for Brucellosis, so it you could hold out your arm…"

Ryou willingly extended his left arm to them while his right picked up the deck again. He laid the deck on his leg and picked cards off the top, looking at them and then setting them aside. Taub watched him for a few minutes as he readied Ryou's arm.

"What's that?" Ryou glanced over at him before returning to the cards.

"It's Duel Monsters," Ryou explained. "It used to be quite popular here in America."

Taub nodded. "There's going to be a slight pinch, so be ready." Ryou winced as the needle went in, but otherwise appeared fine.

Kutner's eyes widened. "I remember that game. It's actually really popular still, just with the younger crowd. I used to play while I was in college."

Taub snickered. "You are such a nerd."

Kutner frowned at him. "It was made in America," he said, trying to justify it, "by a guy named Pegasus Crawford."

Ryou went still, staring hard at the card in his hand. On its surface was a brown creature with short, sharp fangs. Across the top read '_Man-Eater Bug_'. Taub looked up at Kutner. "I heard he was murdered."

"Yeah," Kutner said, "during his last tournament. Some sicko pulled his fake eye out of his head and killed him. They never found who did it."

Ryou made a soft, sickly noise and he placed the card at the bottom of the pile. Taub looked over at him. "Something wrong?"

Ryou shook his head, and reshuffled his deck. "I… I was there when that happened," Ryou said, shivering. "It's not a fond memory."

Taub looked up at Ryou and then glanced over to where Ryou's father sat, oblivious to everything except his computer. Kutner raised an eyebrow. "You play competitively?"

Ryou blinked, but looked relieved that they weren't going to talk about it. "Um, yes," he said. "I was in the Battle City Tournament in Japan a few weeks ago."

Taub looked up briefly from his work. "I heard about that. You were up in a blimp, right?" Ryou nodded, and Taub went back to the blood. "Your disappearance was all over the news. Seemed like you dropped off the radar."

Ryou nodded. "Seto Kaiba had some gadgets to keep people from tracking us. Of course, then the pilots became lost in the fog, so we drifted around for awhile. Some of the equipment shorted out during a duel. I managed to electrocute myself. I think it's in my file."

Kutner nodded, paging through the file again. "Yeah, and you were out for awhile afterward. You ever get looked at for that?"

Ryou shrugged, setting another card down and grouped three of them together. "I was fine until I got here," Ryou said simply. He looked over at where his father was scribbling onto the pad of paper. "Father wanted us to see a new Egyptian exhibit opening up in New Jersey, so we came."

Taub and Kutner looked at one another before going back to work. Kutner flipped through the file again. "And the mugging that happened before?"

Ryou winced, glancing at his left arm. "I don't remember much of what happened with that…" he admitted quietly. "The doctors said it was because of the trauma."

Kutner watched as Ryou's eyes narrowed slightly, and his nose twitched. He made a mental note of it, and turned toward Taub, who had finished drawing blood. Taub, too, had an intrigued look on his face. Once Ryou was bandaged, the two doctors left the room as fast as possible. Kutner stared at Taub for a moment.

"He had a perfect reason to go to any hospital and complain of head trauma, or a concussion, or _something_ after being unconscious for that long. If he has Munchausen, wouldn't he have gone?"

Taub frowned, staring at the vials in his hands. "I don't know," he responded finally, "but at least we'll have some answers from this."

--

Robert Chase, being a surgeon, felt both relieved and stressed that he was dating in the field. On one hand, he had someone who understood the crappy hours and the medical terms he used when he described his day. On the other hand, it meant he couldn't really escape her, not completely. Allison Cameron had asked that he meet her in the doctor's lounge for lunch, and while Chase was glad to do it, it was becoming quite… _suffocating_.

However, before his mind could stray much further, a flash of white hit his eyes, and the blond turned and stared. Walking cautiously through the hallway, pulling along a wheeled IV stand, was House's albino patient. News of Ryou Bakura had swept through the hospital- House was right, albinos were rare and always a sight in their halls. Chase watched Ryou for a few moments, and quirked an eyebrow when the brown-eyed teen stopped at the window at the far end of the hallway and tapped lightly on the glass. Then the teen tapped the glass a bit harder, eyebrows furrowing. Chase frowned and stepped forward.

"Uh… Ryou?"

The white-haired teen turned and looked at him, and Chase felt a chill roll through his body. Those brown eyes were narrow and calculating, nothing like the kind, smiling teen he had heard about. Then Chase blinked, and Ryou's eyes were wide, bright, and curious. Ryou smiled at him.

"Hello," the white-haired teen said, nodding. The blond doctor felt his mind reeling from the suddenness of the change in Ryou, but spoke nonetheless.

"You're Doctor House's patient, right?" the surgeon asked, and Ryou nodded. Chase exhaled. "You're not supposed to leave your room without permission."

The sudden darkening of Ryou's eyes made Chase's mind reel _again_, and then they brightened, altered, shifted to something less dangerous- what was _up_ with this kid? "I asked Father," was the soft reply. Chase felt like he was missing something from the conversation, but ignored it.

"Permission from your _doctors_," Chase emphasized, and a spark of humor flitted through Ryou's eyes. The teen nodded.

"Oh, I'm sorry," he said, nodding his head. "I'll head back now."

The blond Australian wasn't sure if he should believe him. "I'll lead you there. You have spontaneous muscle weakness, right?"

Ryou nodded, tightening his grip on the wheeling IV stand. "Yes. Thank you."

Chase led the way back towards the hospital rooms, his back stiff and goose bumps on his arms. There was something so very off about Ryou, something that he couldn't explain. He couldn't get those eyes out of his head. The way he had first looked at Chase reminded him of an animal looking for prey.

He glanced back at Ryou to see the boy glowering at the floor, grinding his teeth. Realizing he was under scrutiny, the white-haired teen looked up, brown eyes wide and soft. "Oh, um," Ryou said awkwardly, "you never said what your name was…?"

Chase blinked, and slowed to walk beside him. "Doctor Chase."

Ryou smiled at him. "Pleasure to meet you, Doctor Chase."

Chase merely smiled and nodded, all the while feeling like he had just met a completely different person…


	3. Disinterested Dads and Drs

**TITLE**: Two-Faced  
**AUTHOR**: Phate_Phoenix  
**PAIRING**: House/Wilson (_eventually_), Tendershipping (_if you're __really__ looking for it_)  
**RATING**: PG-13  
**WARNINGS**: Crossover with _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ and _House_.  
**SUMMARY**: Ryou Bakura thought it was only the flu. He was wrong. Now House and his team must figure out what is ailing the young Duelist, while trying to figure out if Ryou's strange, and sometimes _violent_, mood-swings are part of his symptoms or something else entirely…  
**DISCLAIMER**: I do not own _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ or _House M.D.  
_**NOTES**: After last night's episode of House, if figure we could all use a little pick-me-up. D: No spoilers for 'SIMPLE EXPLANATION' in this story, though.

_Timeline for House MD_: After 'THE GREATER GOOD', before 'UNFAITHFUL'  
_Timeline for YGO_: After Battle City, sometime during the Dragons Arc. Gets rather 'AU' from there.

--

**Chapter Three: Disinterested Dads and Doctors  
**

House twirled his cane in his hand, watching from the sidelines as the rage built within his boss. When it looked like Ryou Bakura was going to be in the hospital for a bit longer than a day, Ren Bakura had gone straight to Cuddy with the most startling and- according to some- _odd_ request.

"I want to make one of the medical doctors Ryou's health care proxy. I can't stay here any longer."

Cuddy, whose parental-protective drive had sprouted wings and flew over anything underage, had stared at Ren for several seconds before she gave him a sweet smile that House knew would only bring hell on Earth upon this poor man. Unluckily for Ren, he was not that aware.

"I'm the curator of a museum in Japan," Ren said, gesturing vaguely. "I have to get back there. A new shipment is coming in from Egypt, so I need to check it in and sign the papers."

Cuddy's smile didn't fade, but even Rachel went silent in the face of her mother's anger. The child gnawed on the orange beak of the duck in her grasp, staring at the man. Wilson, who was sitting next to House on Cuddy's couch, sipped at his second coffee of the day. The fact that Cuddy's wrath was not directed at either of them made this a special occasion.

"Let me get this straight," Cuddy said, her blue eyes suddenly cool as ice, "you would rather go across the world to _Japan_ than stay by your _sick_ son's bedside?"

Ren seemed to realize he was treading into potentially life-threatening territory, for he leaned back slightly. "It's not a question of 'would rather', _ma'am_," Ren said, green eyes narrow, "but what I _have_ to do."

House leaned back on the couch, striking the ground beneath the cane hard. Three sets of eyes turned upon him and House leered at the blue-haired man. "No, it's not," House said and pushed himself to his feet. "Your son bares little resemblance to you, have you noticed?" Ren said nothing, but he stiffened automatically. House limped forward a few steps. "Oh, he's your son, though. No doubt about it. But, he looks _so much_ like your wife, doesn't he?"

Ren stiffened further, and Cuddy's mouth dropped open. Wilson said nothing, and House couldn't see his face to tell if he was giving House the 'shut up _now_' look or the 'holy crap, what did you just say?' look. Either way, House had more to say.

"I mean, it must be really, _really_ hard to see him every day," he said, leaning heavily on his cane and staring into furious, frightened green eyes. "Like looking at a miniature of your wife, reminding you she's _gone_, and all you have left is this second-rate remake."

"House!" Cuddy shouted, eyes wide. House risked a glance to Wilson, and the oncologist looked rather horrified- not at _House's _words, though, for his brown gaze was firmly upon Ren. House then looked at the father once more, seeing the flash of guilt and anger and frustration in his eyes. The man was gritting his teeth, and his hands were shaking a bit. House merely _smiled_.

"I'm right, though, aren't I?"

Ren scowled, glaring over his shoulder at Cuddy as he pushed a pair of sunglasses over his face. "Choose whichever doctor you believe is best. _I_ have a job to do."

With that, the man strode from the room, pushing past House. The doctor stumbled a bit but regained his balance. He shook his fist as the doors slammed closed, but his eyes were bright with a dark humor. "That's not right!" he wailed. "Pushing cripples, abandoning your children! What kind of monster are you?!"

Cuddy stared at where the man had stood, as if by sheer will she could teleport him back so she could burn him to ashes. House turned around, placing both is hands at the top of his cane and leaned on it. "So," he said enthusiastically, "who am I going to hassle this time around for permission?"

Cuddy blinked over at the diagnostician before shaking her head. "You aren't bothered by that _at all_?" Cuddy asked, gesturing to where Ren had stormed out of the room.

House looked at where she gestured. "I am," he said. He pointed at the wall with his cane, waving his other arm dramatically. "The colors are all off. It should be _darker_, so that one truly understands that they have entered the Gorgon's Lair!" He looked over at Wilson, who was frowning, and stage-whispered, "Don't look directly at her eyes or you'll turn to stone. And by eyes I mean breasts."

Cuddy glared at him, tapping her fingers on the desk. Rachel squealed and grabbed onto her pointer finger and placed it into her mouth. Cuddy's anger seemed to melt away from her face, and she chuckled slightly. She looked down at the tiny child and shook her head slightly. "Awe, let go of Mommy's finger. I have to use it later to claw out an irresponsible Daddy's eyes. Yes I do! Yes I do!" Realizing it was a lost battle, she turned back to the two doctors in front of her. "Wilson, would you be the kid's medical proxy?"

Wilson blinked rapidly, pointing to himself. "Me? Why me?"

Cuddy rolled her eyes. "Because out of anyone in this hospital, only you or myself can keep House from going mad scientist on the kid." House frowned at Cuddy. "I prefer _evil genius_," he grumbled. The dean of medicine ignored him. "Since I have to run the hospital _and_ take care of Rachel, you're the only one left."

Wilson's jaw opened and shut and he held up his hands. "But… I… I don't know _anything_ about kids!"

House sneered at him. "What's to know? You've pretty much skipped the hard part and gone right into teenagerdom. The kid'll take care of himself. You just have to agree with whatever I say, and we'll be good."

Wilson scowled and marched forward, pointing at House. "Oh no. Not if _I_ have a say in it."

House frowned at him for a second before he brightened. "Great! Then I'll come to you!"

With that, House left Cuddy's office, leaving a bewildered Wilson and an amused Cuddy in his wake. Wilson blinked a few times, clearing his throat.

"Did I just…?"

"Yes," Cuddy said, sitting down and placing Rachel in a small playpen next to her desk. Wilson allowed his arms to drop uselessly to his sides.

"Oh," he said faintly, staring at House's back.

--

Ryou blinked at the brown-haired doctor who was standing awkwardly next to his bed. The man's name was apparently 'James Wilson', and now that his father had, for all intents and purposes, _abandoned him again_, Doctor Wilson would be the one who would make the decisions about his health. Already, he could feel Yami stirring in the back of his mind, hissing and snarling about how ridiculous that was.

'_We are both old enough to make up our own minds_,' Bakura spat, his own anger pulsing vivid in Ryou's mind. '_In the name of Isis, I'm over three thousand years old. These American doctors are mad. If I still had the Ring_….'

Ryou struggled not to roll his eyes, and bent over to cough into his hands. Afterward, he calmly crossed his hands in front of his stomach, turning his brown eyes upon Wilson's. "Father's left already, then?"

Wilson scratched the back of his head, and nodded after a moment of hesitation. Ryou sighed, shrugging slightly as he gazed out the window in his room. "Oh, well, he's busy."

'_He's also an asshole_.'

'_… I know_.'

'_I'd send him to the Shadow Realm, too, you know_.'

Ryou really did roll his eyes that time, but kept his gaze from Wilson. It wouldn't do to have his 'medical proxy' thinking Ryou didn't like the guy. Wilson stared at him for a few seconds before sighing, and looking around nervously. "So, uh, I know you're almost an adult… so I won't just be making decisions without consulting you…."

Ryou smiled at him, nodding. "Thank you," he said. Wilson shuffled his feet for a few moments, rubbing the back of his neck anxiously. The albino took pity upon him and shook his head. "Don't feel so bad, Doctor Wilson," he said, drawing Wilson's gaze on him. "You didn't send Father away. He doesn't stay in one place too long, anyway, so I assumed he'd leave."

Wilson seemed even less comfortable with that, and actually took a seat next to Ryou. "You assumed?"

Ryou shrugged a bit, glancing back out his window. "Father's been in and out of my life ever since Mother and Amane died. I assume it's too painful for him."

"How… awful," Wilson said, leaning back in his chair. Ryou turned his brown gaze upon him, raising a white eyebrow.

"What about you, Doctor? Anything you wish to share?" When Wilson merely stared at him in confusion, Ryou smiled. "You tell me about yourself, I tell you about myself. That way we both have a better idea who we are dealing with."

Wilson shook his head, but smiled. "Fine," he said. "Where do I start?"

Ryou turned his eyes toward the glass wall that separated him from the rest of the hospital. Hidden by the partially drawn screen, a figure of a man with a cane stood just beyond the wall. "From where you met Doctor House," Ryou said, looking back at Wilson when Doctor House limped away.

Wilson chuckled in amusement. "That's… a long story."

Ryou nodded, leaning back against his pillows. Bakura, too, settled in to learn more about their caretakers. He coughed loudly into his hands, and gave Doctor Wilson a small smile. "I have a feeling that I have a long while."

Wilson leaned back in his chair, looking over his ward before shrugging his shoulders. "Technically, we met at a medical convention in New Orleans, but we _really_ got to know each other when he bailed me out of jail…."

--

House stared at his group of fellows as they placed a stack of test results on his desk, frowning at him. Foreman placed a hand on top of them. "All negative. House, the kid's just faking."

House looked at Foreman, and then allowed his eyes to trail past the rest of his team. They each looked annoyed and set. House shrugged, picking himself up from the table. "Okay," he chirped, and began to limp for the door. The fellows glanced at one another before Thirteen pushed herself to her feet.

"Where are you going?" she called out to him.

House grinned back at them. "I'm going to figure out if he's lying or not!" He then limped out the door.

The team quickly rushed forward, where Taub took up stride beside him. "House, do you honestly believe that, if the kid had Munchausen, he's just going to tell you?"

House grinned cheekily at him. "Yup!" He stepped into the elevator, and the other four quickly squeezed in.

Foreman shook his head. "I don't think this is going to work."

House said nothing, choosing instead to idly tap his fingers on the top of his cane. Thirteen planted her hands on her hips. "What are you planning on doing to him?" she asked, her eyes narrow. House looked at her, mock-confusion displayed plainly on his face.

"Why, I thought you didn't care what happens to him?" he asked. The other doctors looked at each other, and Kutner winced.

"Just because we don't think there's something wrong with him doesn't mean we want him emotionally _scarred_!"

House raised an eyebrow at him. "Then why are none of you stopping me?"

The elevator doors opened, and House stepped out of them, cackling. He limped his way towards Ryou's room, the Ducklings2.0 a few paces behind him.

--

Ryou wasn't sure who was more surprised to see Doctor House burst into the room, himself or Doctor Wilson. The story of 'Houson', as Doctor Wilson liked to call it, had ended over an hour ago, and Ryou had been talking about the school he had been in when Father had moved him to England. However, Doctor House slamming open the door and pointing his cane at him like a sword put any further conversations on hold. Behind him, Ryou could see the gathering of his other doctors, each looking a strange combination between guilty and curious. The Spirit immediately perked up in the back of his mind.

'_This looks interesting_…'

Ryou blinked a few times. '_Interesting things tend to go belly-up for us, though_.'

He could feel Bakura nod. '_Remain cautious_.'

'_When aren't I_?'

Doctor Wilson stared at Doctor House for a moment. "What are you doing, House?" he asked, leaning back in his chair. House blinked over at him, as if startled to see him.

"I'm here to promote truth and justice!" he declared, still pointing the cane at Ryou. The albino leaned back a bit, feeling a spike of unease dart through his stomach. Doctor Wilson just looked amused.

"Right," he said. Then the oncologist leaned forward in his chair. "What are you planning?"

House smirked at him before looking at Ryou, and those bright blue eyes betrayed nothing to his intentions. "So," he began shuffling forward, "how long were you going to keep pulling our legs? A few more days? A week? Because we're busy people and don't like to waste our time."

Ryou blinked, sitting up straighter. "I'm afraid I don't understand," he said slowly, brown eyes narrowing. House smirked at him.

"C'mon," he said, dropping his cane down to help support his weight, "You thought we'd never figure out you're nothing but big, pasty _faker_?"

Ryou stiffened, suddenly more than aware of every aching muscle in his body, of the desire to cough loudly, of his headache, and the strange weakness in his right leg. He swallowed the cough- because how contrived would _that_ have appeared?- and clenched his jaws tighter. Bakura seethed in the back of his mind.

'_How dare he_?!' the spirit hissed. '_How dare he imply that we lied_?!'

Ryou stared at the man before him. "I'm _not_ lying," he replied, his own anger being fed by Bakura's.

House stared at him. "Everybody lies," he said coolly. Ryou nodded, acquiescing to that.

"Everyone does, but not all the time." Ryou's heart was thudding loudly in his ears. Why was that? He was mad, but not that mad.

Doctor Wilson was staring at him; Ryou could feel his gaze. "House," Wilson was saying, "House, stop…."

House, however, only stared harder at Ryou. The albino could faintly hear the electronic beeping measuring his pulse quicken, but ignored it.

"What's the matter?" House said, ignoring the startled looks thrown at him by other doctors. "Daddy doesn't give you enough attention so you had to find it elsewhere?"

Ryou felt as though the world was in slow motion as the words ricocheted in his head. What blinding, complete truth he had just heard. It was a shock to his system, and he could feel the jolt in his fingertips. And then, he felt nothing at all.

"What… did you… **do**?"

His mouth was moving, but it wasn't his voice. It was harsher, angrier, _darker_.

'_Yami, don't hurt them_!' Ryou pleaded with the spirit, knowing it would do little good.

'_They will pay for this, Yadonushi_,' Bakura swore. '_They have done something to us. Can't you feel it? This shell is worsening_!'

"I… cannot… _breathe_," Bakura gasped, clutching his chest. It was hard to catch his breath, for it felt like he was running through the desert with Pharaoh's guard just behind him. Even so, he managed to snarl at House, because Bakura wasn't about to let this injury go unnoted.

The doctors had all stilled, as if sensing they were no longer safe to be around the frail teen. This pleased Bakura, but instead of sneering as he usually would, he focused instead of trying to calm his heart and ease his breathing. House was not helping him any by staring at Bakura as though he was merely a particularly interesting bug.

"Not Munchausen Syndrome!" he called to the doctors behind him as they rushed into the room. "Someone slow his heart rate before the kid has a heart attack!"

Bakura watched as the room spun and he felt himself fall backwards onto the mattress, unable to do much more. "Sekhmet, relieve me," he mumbled between wheezes before finally Ryou's body gave in to unconsciousness.


	4. Rancorous Wretches

**TITLE**: Two-Faced  
**PAIRING**: House/Wilson (_eventually_), Tendershipping (_if you're __really__ looking for it_)  
**RATING**: PG-13  
**WARNINGS**: Crossover with _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ and _House_.  
**SUMMARY**: Ryou Bakura thought it was only the flu. He was wrong. Now House and his team must figure out what is ailing the young Duelist, while trying to figure out if Ryou's strange, and sometimes _violent_, mood-swings are part of his symptoms or something else entirely…  
**DISCLAIMER**: I do not own _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ or _House M.D._

**NOTES**: After this, you guys are all caught up with my LiveJournal! The next update might not be for awhile- we're approaching the last few weeks of school in my college, so finals are among us. I _a__m_ working on this, though. :D Hope you enjoy!

_Timeline for House MD_: After 'THE GREATER GOOD', before 'UNFAITHFUL'  
_Timeline for YGO_: After Battle City, sometime during the Dragons Arc. Gets rather 'AU' from there.

--

**Chapter Four: Rancorous Wretches**

"So," House began, turning away from the board and facing the group of people sitting at the table, "a new day, a new symptom! Unless anyone believes he's faking _this_ one?"

No one said anything. House turned to the whiteboard and scribbled on the bottom in large, black letters.

_MUSCLE ACHES  
DRY COUGH  
SWOLLEN LYMPH NODES  
FEVER  
LOSS OF APPETITE  
MUSCLE WEAKNESS  
__**TACHYCARDIA**_

Ryou's heart rate had gotten completely out of hand, and he had to be shocked to bring it back to normal. He was out of it for the rest of the day. Once he did awaken, however, his mood vaulted between openly hostile and coolly indifferent of his doctors. The fellows accusing him of lying had left him bitter towards them. The only one whom Ryou still placed any faith in was _House_. How the kid had figured out that House's plan had been to draw another symptom out of him, they weren't sure, but it left them with a rather strained relationship with their patient.

Kutner sighed, resting his head on his palm. "It could be Mononucleosis," he offered. Wilson, who had come up with them after Ryou had regained consciousness, raised an eyebrow at him.

"Mono?" he asked. When he received five curious glances, Wilson shrugged awkwardly. "It's just… he's told me he's never…" Wilson paused and gestured uselessly with his hands for a moment before he sighed and allowed them to fall, "uh, _dated_."

Thirteen frowned a bit. "Really? He's _sixteen_ and never gone on a date?" she looked over her shoulder at House. "It could be a glandular problem."

House looked at the board. "Ah, yes," he said, "which would solve his loss of appetite, and _maybe_ why he doesn't like girls." House spun around, eyes wide and mouth forming a large smile. "Or he could be _gay_!" House turned back to the board, as if contemplating putting it on the list. Wilson's mouth dropped open for a second before he leaned in, pointing at House's back.

"You can't just _say_ that!"

"Did he say he's never kissed any _girls_, specifically?" House asked, drawing the outline of a rainbow on the corner of the board. He picked up a red marker and began to color it in, backwards.

Wilson eyed House quietly. "Yes, but-"

"Gay!" House called over his shoulder, finishing up his inverted rainbow. Then he turned back around. "However, being 'gay' is _not_ a symptom of any real disease, so we'll just have to stick to the facts, okay?" He waved his cane between Taub and Foreman. "Taubman, go search the kid's hotel room. Kutteen, go get a sample from the kid to test for Mono."

Thirteen looked between House and Wilson. "What is Houson going to do?"

Wilson frowned at her. "_I'm_ sticking close to _him_," he gestured to the man leaning on the cane next to him, "so that he can't go and give Ryou _another_ heart attack." He then gave House a pointed glare. The older man pointed at the fellows.

"They _made_ me do it!"

Thirteen rolled her eyes and led the group of four from the room. Wilson looked over at House and got up from his chair. "So, lunch?"

House smirked. "You're buying."

"Surprise, surprise."

--

Ryou's eyes darted across the room, taking in all four doctors where they stood. Doctor Taub and Doctor Foreman were standing in the back of the room, looking at Ryou's backpack with apprehension. Doctor Hadley and Doctor Kutner were capping the blood sample and throat swab they'd gathered. He offered them a small smile, which made Kutner brighten considerably and Thirteen lost the strange stiffness in her shoulders. Bakura grumbled unhappily in the back of his mind.

'_I can't believe you humor these mortals. They doubt you and you _smile_ at them. If they kill you, are you going to give them cards_?'_I'm sure you didn't mean too_!''

Ryou only smiled, shaking his head a bit. He watched as Kutner and Thirteen left the room. '_They're doctors. We didn't really have any symptoms. It's completely understandable that they'd go with the first thing that makes sense_.'

'_That you were lying_?_ These mortals would have their throats slit before too long in Egypt_.'

Ryou watched Doctor Taub and Doctor Foreman with narrowed, interested eyes. '_Yami, what are they up to_?'

He felt Bakura sigh with annoyance before the spirit took a better look through Ryou's eyes. The two doctors were still by Ryou's bag, and eyeing it. And they were not wearing lab coats, but normal, regular coats, like they were planning on heading outside. Bakura snorted.

'_They're going to try and steal something from us_,' the spirit said. '_Look at them. Like a couple of two-year-olds trying to figure out how to get into the cookie jar. It's pathetic_.'

Ryou rolled his eyes at Bakura and cleared his throat, drawing the attention of the two doctors. He raised an eyebrow. "What are you trying to find? If you asked for it, I'd be able to help you."

Taub and Foreman glanced at one another, and then Taub stepped forward. "We… need to search your hotel room."

Ryou stared at him before shrugging. "Why didn't you just _say so_ instead of standing there like a pair of creepy stalkers?" As Ryou reached over to take the card from his hiding spot, a thought struck him, making his fingers twitch. He went into a coughing fit- somewhat faked, if Ryou was honest with himself- and prodded Bakura mentally.

'_Tell me you hid the Millennium Eye somewhere_.'

Bakura cackled in his mind, and while the noise usually made Ryou's skin crawl, this time it was a welcome occurrence.

'_Do you honestly think I'd just leave it _lying_ somewhere_?_ I hid it before we left for the hospital_.'

'_What_?' Ryou said, startled. He grabbed his deck and began to shuffle through the cards. '_When did you have time to do that_?'

He could feel his yami's smirk. '_I make time, Yadounoushi_.'

Ryou didn't want to know. Instead, he pulled the flat keycard out of his Duel Monsters deck. He held it out to the two doctors. "I'm not sure what you'll find in there," he admitted. "Father and I spent most our time outside, him at the museums and I…" Ryou paused.

'_Where did _you_ go while we were here_?'

Ryou could feel Bakura snickering. '_Shopping_.'

'… _By shopping you mean stealing, don't you_?'

'_When don't I_?'

Ryou withheld his sigh and looked blandly over at the doctors. "I took walks through the neighborhoods nearby."

Foreman quietly took the card from him, looking annoyed and awkward. Taub wouldn't meet Ryou's eyes. "Alright," the shorter man said, "but we're going to check it out anyway."

Ryou shrugged, lying back in his bed. They were staring at him now, studying him. Ryou stared back, leaning his head to the side. '_So_,' Ryou found himself thinking, '_Yami's little outburst apparently hadn't gone unnoticed_.' He bit the inside of his lip. '_This makes things interesting_.'

'_As you said_,' Bakura grumbled from the back of his mind, startling Ryou into flinching, '_interesting things tend to spit in our faces_.'

Ryou watched as Taub and Foreman slowly left the room, his eyes narrowing. '_I think this one might bite_.'

--

"So," Wilson began, waving his fork in the air, "you and Cuddy…?"

House's mood did a sudden one-eighty- his mischievous, devil-may-care temper faltered, and then settled on gloomy and angry. He glowered at his plate of pizza and fries. "There's nothing there."

Wilson, confused by the sudden shift, forced a smirk on his face. "Nothing?"

House speared a fry with his fork, not even sparing Wilson a glance. "Nothing," he said firmly. "The plant that once held our fruit of love is as barren as her womb." His tone was light, mocking, but he refused to meet Wilson's gaze, never a good sign. "In spring, no flowers shall bloom there."

Wilson blinked, setting his fork down on his salad plate. "House," he began slowly, "what happened?"

House sneered at his plate, and Wilson could recognize the characteristic self-loathing glow in his blue gaze. "Oh," he said, tone sarcastic and mocking, "nothing that can be fixed. I've just realized some things about the people around me."

Wilson watched as House glared at his plate before pushing it away. This was _really_ bad. "House, wait. I don't understand."

House pushed himself to his feet and sneered. "That's okay," House said, staring hard into Wilson's eyes, "I've stopped expecting you to."

Wilson stilled, startled by that. House turned around and limped out of the cafeteria, leaving the oncologist sitting. Wilson blinked rapidly before gathering both his tray and House's and moving towards the tray window. There was really only one thing to do. Go talk to the other end of the trouble.

During lunch on a Wednesday, Wilson expected Cuddy to be buried deep in paperwork that she usually only half-focused on during Tuesdays. And so, Wilson was surprised to find Cuddy giggling over the live feed on her laptop. He almost felt bad about disturbing her.

Almost.

"Cuddy?" he said softly, rapping his knuckles on the inside of the door. Blue eyes looked up at him, a flicker of annoyance darting through them before they settled. She leaned back, frowning a bit.

"What did he do now?"

Wilson smiled, entering the room and closing the door behind him. "Nothing, actually. It's just…" He paused.

Cuddy raised an eyebrow. "Just what? Out with it, Wilson. I have a daughter to watch."

"He's," Wilson tried once more, "_cranky_."

Cuddy stared at him. "Oh no," she deadpanned, "call the National Guard."

Wilson brought his arms up and his fingers twitched as he struggled to find words for his problem. "It's not just that," Wilson said. "There's something wrong. Something to do with you and him."

Cuddy blinked, and then looked uncomfortable. Wilson stared at her. "What did _you_ do?"

She sighed, leaning back in her chair. "I… may have told him that I couldn't handle raising two children in my life right now."

Wilson stared at her. "You told him that?"

Cuddy glared at him. "What else was I supposed to do? No matter _how_ I said it, House was going to take it badly. The fact of the matter is that I can't handle taking care of Rachel, running a hospital, _and_ dealing with a Housian relationship at the same time. I just can't."

Wilson sighed, running a hand over his face. Of anyone, Wilson knew that best. He'd lost two marriages to House's neediness. Sure, there had been other things that contributed to them, but House's weight had certainly been a large factor in their collapses. "When?" he asked.

Cuddy shrugged, straightening out her paperwork. "A few days after the Ectopic endometriosis case." Wilson's eyes widened. Cuddy smirked. "We agreed to keep the fighting from the kids. Separation is so hard as it is."

Wilson smirked half-heartedly. "How many clinic hours?"

"Twenty. Man's got a gift."

"He does," Wilson agreed. He then sighed, looking at the Dean of Medicine. "Cuddy…"

"Wilson," she said shortly. "Look, I like House. A lot. I wouldn't have tried it out if I didn't but… well…" She placed her hands on her desk and leaned forward a bit. Unfortunately for Wilson, the computer screen covered her cleavage. "I put _tripwire_ in his office!" she exclaimed, looking disgusted. "I _stole _his _cane_. Just because he was being _himself_." She rubbed her face. "If I had to deal with him twenty-four-seven, I think I'd end up killing him."

Wilson nodded, exhaling. "I… I know," he said softly. "I just wish _something _would work out for House."

Cuddy raised an eyebrow at him. "You have."

Wilson shook his head, smiling. It wasn't a happy smile, however- more like he was laughing at himself. "Yeah. I abandon him for _four months_ and don't return until his _mother_ calls me for help." He laughed- it was a harsh, hollow noise. "I'm a _great_ friend."

Cuddy rolled her eyes and pointed at him. "_You_ came back."

"Kicking and screaming."

"You still came back," she affirmed. "The rest of us came back by stumbling across him. The rest of us had to come back because we worked with him. You? You could go _anywhere_. And yet-" she smirked- "here you are. You _chose_ House."

Wilson smiled at her, rubbing the back of his neck. That wound between himself and House would linger for awhile longer- they both knew that- but hearing things like that always helped the healing process. "I-I guess…"

"Good," Cuddy said, going back to her screen. "Now get the hell out of my office and cheer up House. If he makes Mister Bakura cry, I'm kicking _your_ ass."

Wilson nodded, smiling a bit more freely, and ducked out of her office. Feeling better about dealing with this new situation now that he knew the whole story, Wilson started towards the elevator. He wondered if House would go to Ryou's room first, or if he'd throw his ball against the walls of patient rooms. He entered the first elevator to open and pressed the button for the third floor. Wilson could only hope there was no permanent damage.

Several moments later, when Wilson stood in the doorway of Ryou's room, he realized his worry was for nothing. Ryou was sitting, alone, in his room. Glaring at a wall. Shaking his head, and then nodding. Like he was talking with someone who wasn't there.

Alright, maybe worrying was required after all.

"Wilson."

The oncologist turned around and spied House leaning against the wall just across from the door. He was twirling his cane in his hand. Quickly, Wilson made his way over to him. He settled next to House, watching Ryou huff and cross his arms. "How long has he been… doing that?"

House shrugged. "I only got here five minutes ago, and he was quite into the… _conversation_ at that time."

"What _are_ you doing here?"

House's eyes never left Ryou. "I was planning on figuring out if the albino has mood swings or not." House shrugged. "Crazy works just as well, I guess."

Wilson swallowed heavily, feeling a bit ill. Schizophrenia. Just perfect. House grinned at him.

"Let's go talk to all of them!" he said cheerfully, and pushed himself off the wall. Wilson watched House for a moment before sighing and slinking after him. _Why_ did his ward have to suffer from the same thing Daniel had…?

"Mister Bakura!"

Ryou practically fell off the bed, but managed to hold tight to the comforter. He turned around, brown eyes wide and startled. "O-oh! Doctor House! Doctor Wilson!"

Wilson closed the door behind them, wanting to give Ryou some privacy for this. He then shut the blinds. House smirked. "When were you going to tell us you had friends?"

Ryou blinked at him dimly. "Um… what?"

House smiled, gesturing with his cane briefly. "Well, you were just talking with _someone_…"

Ryou blinked rapidly, paling swiftly. Then he cleared his throat and scooted backwards on his bed. "I was just… yelling at myself," he said.

House sneered at him. "Oh? And I suppose you nod and shake your head while you hold these conversations with yourself?"

Ryou shrugged, nodding. "I do."

Wilson stepped forward. "Why were you yelling at yourself?" House glared at him.

"Hey, I wasn't done yet!"

Ryou smiled a bit, running a hand through his hair. "I'm just frustrated that I can't give more information about where I've been during the past week or so," he admitted, looking up at House. "I… wanted to try and help you figure out what's wrong with me."

House sighed, rolling his eyes. He moved towards the door, but paused to look over his shoulder. "That conversation isn't over," he declared. Ryou's eyes narrowed slightly, but he kept smiling. Wilson shivered.

"I never said it was," he purred, voice deeper, darker. House shared a glance with Wilson and limped from the room. Wilson smiled awkwardly at Ryou and followed.

"That," House said as Wilson caught up to him, "was interesting."

Wilson stared at him. "What? The fact that he wasn't crazy, or that you just got another symptom?"

House smiled at him, his eyes bright, and Wilson knew he missed something in the exchange. "No," House said as they reached the elevator, "that Mister Bakura isn't just _talking_ to the voices in his head." The doors opened and House stepped inside. Wilson followed. "He's letting them come out and play."

Wilson jolted, spinning around to stare at him. "What?"

The doors closed. House turned over and looked at him. Hard.

"I can't be the only to notice that these 'mood swings' the albino has seem more like personality changes," he said. Wilson stared at him. House rolled his eyes and tapped his cane on the floor. "Back when he first had his little fit-"

"That _you_ brought on."

"-He changed. Kinda. You don't remember?"

Wilson frowned. Of course he remembered. It had been like one of those old movies where the main character slowly turned into a werewolf, except Ryou's eyes had narrowed and his face had become more angular. Even his _hair_ had seemed wilder. House smirked at him, and the door swung open.

"I wanted to see if what I saw was exactly as it seemed," House said, leading Wilson towards the diagnostic conference room. "I think he may have figured me out, however." House walked over to the board and picked up a black marker. He began to scribble on the list.

"Now the question is," House asked, stepping back to admire his work, "did the crazy come before or after he became sick?"

Wilson looked at the board and smiled a little.

_MUSCLE ACHES  
__DRY COUGH  
__SWOLLEN LYMPH NODES  
__FEVER  
__LOSS OF APPETITE  
__MUSCLE WEAKNESS  
__TACHYCARDIA  
__**MOOD SWINGS**_

"What?" he quipped. "Not going to write down 'Dissociative Identity Disorder'?"

House shrugged. "Too many words. Besides," he glanced at Wilson, "you know my lovely assistants. They'll put all their little minds together and focus on _that_, and we aren't even sure it's a symptom."

"What do you think?" Wilson asked.

House leaned on his cane, tapping the marker against it. "I think," he began slowly, "that we need another clue." He glanced at Wilson. Wilson raised an eyebrow and looked at the board again.

And froze.

"House," he said suddenly, walking forward and toward the board, "House, we've got to get him to a MRI."

House watched him for a moment. "Why?"

"Look, see?" Wilson said, blindly snatching up a green marker. He circled _Swollen Lymph Nodes_ and _Muscle Weakness_, and connected them with a line. He circled _Fever_ and _Tachycardia,_ and scribbled _Shock_ off to the side before connecting those three with a long line. "House, it could be Hodgkin's Disease. It would explain all his symptoms. Even the muscle weakness. A swollen lymph node pressing just right on the spinal column-"

House nodded, leaning forward on his cane. "Could cause some paralysis. And the fever, shock, and his abused system _could _cause tachycardia." He pulled out his pager, probably to call his fellows back from whatever tasks he had set for them. Wilson looked at him, pressing the marker into his hands.

"I'll go sign you up for a spot." Wilson said, and smiled before turning around and rushing out of the room. He'd talk with House about his Cuddy issues later- right now, he had a seventeen-year-old boy to save.


	5. Cranky Kleptos

**TITLE**: Two-Faced  
**AUTHOR**: Phate_Phoenix  
**PAIRING**: House/Wilson (eventually), Tendershipping (if you're really looking for it)  
**RATING**: PG-13  
**WARNINGS**: Crossover with Yu-Gi-Oh!  
**SUMMARY**: Ryou Bakura thought it was only the flu. He was wrong. Now House and his team must figure out what is ailing the young Duelist, while trying to figure out if Ryou's strange, and sometimes violent, mood-swings are part of his symptoms or something else entirely…  
**DISCLAIMER**: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or House M.D.  
**NOTES**: Has an actual interesting medical case! Odd symptoms? Check! Odd patient? Check! Odd illness? Check! We're good to go!

_Timeline for House MD_: After 'THE GREATER GOOD', before 'UNFAITHFUL'  
_Timeline for YGO_: After Battle City, sometime during the Dragons Arc. Gets rather 'AU' from there.

--

**Chapter Five: Cranky Kleptos**

House threw the scans onto his desk and leaned forward, looking at his three fellows and single best friend also occupying his office. "Well," he said, "that was a bust."

Foreman glared. "It was _also_ a bit of a reach," he grumbled. He glanced at Wilson, who merely shrugged.

"None of your tests were coming back positive," Wilson said, leaning against the glass wall. "I saw a connection that fit, and went with it."

House smiled brilliantly. "Now that we've _all_ been identified as losers, can we get back to curing the sick kid?"

Foreman, however, was not standing down. "Why are you even _here_? Ryou is currently your ward. That makes you a liability."

Wilson straightened, planting his hands on his hips. His eyes narrowed as he gazed stonily at Foreman. "Are you saying that I'm being unprofessional?"

Kutner and Taub, sensing a struggle for dominance, slid away from Foreman and Wilson and towards the exit. Thirteen stood her ground, and House was suddenly given the image of her clawing the eyes out of Wilson's skull to defend her man. This would not do.

How would Wilson be able to appreciate Monster Trucks, Cuddy's cleavage, or his Soaps if he were blind?

"Now, now, now," House was saying, pushing himself to his feet, "we mustn't kill each other—one blood stain is enough for this carpet."

Foreman's eyes darted to the faded stain in the conference room, and the reminder seemed to take the wind out of sails. Wilson, too, quieted, paled, and leaned against the glass window. Kutner frowned, looking over at House.

"They never caught the guy who shot you, did they?"

House stared at Kutner before he rolled his eyes. "No, they didn't. Can we get back to diagnosing why a seventeen year old has tachycardia, swollen lymph nodes, _and_ mood swings?"

Taub immediately pulled a small slip of white paper out of his pocket and held it out to House, raising his eyebrows. "Found this," he said as House took the paper, "in Ryou's suitcase."

House looked up at him. "It's an airplane ticket stub," he said, staring at Taub blankly.

Taub smirked. "Yes, but it's a ticket stub to California."

Kutner frowned. "So?"

Taub sighed, looking upwards for a brief moment. "Ryou and his father both stayed overnight in California before flying here." At the continued confusion from the room, Taub smirked. "Plenty of time for Ryou to be bitten by a mosquito carrying the Western equine encephalitis virus."

Foreman smirked, shaking his head while Thirteen's eyebrows rose. Kutner grinned, nodding. "That's perfect!" he said. "It explains the fever, the weakness, the irritability, the tachycardia, the lymph nodes… it fits!"

House grinned. "Great! Go run the blood test for it."

Kutner frowned, his eyes scanning the room before looking back at House. "You… don't want us to start treatment right away?"

House gave him a horrified look. "Start treatment without a for-sure diagnosis? Have you gone _mad_?"

Kutner stared at him as though he'd grown another head. House looked at Wilson, pushing himself to his feet. "C'mon, Wilson. I have a date with the Gorgon."

Wilson frowned before pushing himself away from the wall. "Should I get a mirror?"

House looked at him somberly. "It may not be enough."

"Drat."

House looked back at his team. "All of you—go leech more blood out of the albino and test him!"

"All of us?" Thirteen said, her eyes narrowing. "The same test?"

House smiled. "I just want to be really, _really_ sure." He limped into the hallway. Wilson looked at the fellows before shrugging.

"I'd just do what he says," he offered before following the other man to the elevators. He slipped in just as they were about to close, raising an eyebrow at House.

"So, are you going to tell me what wacky stunt you're going to pull on my ward? Or shall I guess?"

House smiled at him. "It'll be fun!"

Wilson's eyes narrowed before he looked up at the elevator numbers. "I'm sure it will be, for you. What about him?"

"If he's having fun already, we may need to revisit the 'Munchausen' prognosis."

The elevators stopped, and the doors slid open. The two men walked out together, shoulders brushing as they moved. Wilson sighed. "I just don't want you purposefully hurting him."

House scoffed. "It won't _hurt_ him. I promise." He smirked at Wilson's scowl. "In fact, I think you'll approve of this particular… idea."

"Oh?" Wilson said doubtfully, but pushed open the door to Cuddy's office as House flounced in behind him. Cuddy looked up at them, her phone pressed to her ear. She sighed, turning away.

"Alright, Debby. Something just came up; I'll talk to you later. … Yes, he just entered my office. Bye." She turned back, putting the phone onto its hook. "Alright, what did he do now?"

House placed a hand to his chest. "I haven't done _anything_. Yet. Actually, that's why I came to talk to you."

"No," Cuddy said, grabbing a pen and turning back to the paper on her desk. Wilson snickered, and House shot him a dark look.

"You didn't even listen to what I'm about to say!"

Cuddy smiled thinly at him. "I figured I'd just skip the whole crazy reasons and just go straight to the end."

House frowned. "But I think you'll appreciate my genius this time."

Cuddy frowned, setting her pen down and leaning her chin on the top her wrist. "Alright, fine. What is it?"

House leaned forward on his cane. "I want to give him a fMRI."

Wilson gaped. "_What_?!"

Cuddy stared at him, her smile becoming less amused and more annoyed. "Ah, yes. I see it House. Your genius is unimaginable. _No_."

House grinned, tapping his fingers on his cane top. "But, just think! Who has to pay for the fMRI?"

Cuddy glared at him. "Mister Bakura of cour—" She paused, eyebrows furrowing. Then her blue eyes rose to House's and she grinned. She held out her arms. "By all means, go crazy with the fMRI! As long as Wilson and Ryou agree."

Wilson's mouth opened and closed several times. "But… he… What?"

Cuddy smiled brightly at the two of them. "Wonderful! Great talking to you as always, Doctor House!"

House bowed his head to her, smirking, and limped out of her office. Wilson stumbled after him.

"What is going on?! Western equine encephalitis doesn't need an fMRI!" Wilson hissed as the elevator doors closed on them. House chuckled.

"Elementary, my dear Wilson," House quipped. "With the fMRI, we can see how albino-boy's—" "For God's sake, _Ryou_, House!" "—_albino-boy's_ brain works."

Wilson blinked and turned his head to stare at House. "You want to find out if he actually has D.I.D.?"

House smiled, looking up at the lights. "I've never had a patient with this before! I've just _got_ to see how his brains works." The elevator doors opened, and House and Wilson limped out just as Thirteen, Kutner, Taub, and Foreman were entering. Kutner waved awkwardly.

"Uh, he's in a very, very bad mood right now," he said. Wilson frowned.

"What do you mean?"

Taub shrugged. "He's being pissy."

House grinned brightly at the group and immediately limped away. Wilson watched him for a few seconds before stalking after him. He caught up and leaned in close to his ear. "What are you going to tell him?"

House shivered slightly, and Wilson raised an eyebrow at the action. Then House shifted away slightly, glowering at him. "Did you brush your teeth _at all_ today? I'm amazed you haven't killed anyone yet."

Wilson frowned, placing a hand by his mouth and trying to smell his breath. House quickly slid into Ryou's room while the man was distracted.

"Good afternoon, my pasty little fiend!" he cried, throwing his arm into the air. On the bed sat Ryou, holding his left arm tight to his chest and flipping through his stack of brown cards. A pair of annoyed brown eyes flicked up to see him.

"House," he said stiffly, voice deeper and more menacing than usual. "Are your minions ever going to stop drawing blood from me? It's getting quite tiresome, and I'd like to know if you just plan on putting in a _faucet_."

House smirked, ignoring Wilson as he entered the room. Ryou, however, didn't. His brown eyes snapped over to him, and a small quirk of his lips was all the welcome Wilson received. He looked back at House. "What is it you're planning, House?" he rumbled. "I've heard from your lackies that you don't ever take an interest in cases, and never perform exams yourself. So?"

"I want to scan your brain."

"Again?" Ryou asked, brows furrowing. "I thought you'd already done that."

House waved his hand through the air. "No results came back on that one. This one shows us how much of your blood is flowing to different portions of your brain."

Ryou looked startled for a minute before his eyes narrowed and he bared his teeth. "I suppose," he snarled, "it's because you still think that I have someone else in my head?"

House chuckled, rolling his eyes. "I _know_ you have someone else in your head. But," he began when Ryou sat up with what looked like intent to maim, "I honestly don't care."

Ryou blinked at him a few times, leaning his head to the side. House could practically _hear_ Wilson's jaw dropping. "House!" the other man hissed. "You can't… if he has… he'd need help!"

Ryou's sharp eyes narrowed and he tilted his head to gaze steadily at Wilson. "We've managed fine on our own this long," he growled. "We don't have a problem."

Wilson let out a soft whimper, distressed. House jerked his head at him, but his eyes never left Ryou's form. "Forgive him for that. His brother's in the loony bin—didn't handle it as well as you… _two_ have."

Ryou—or maybe not, House thought—chuckled at that. "I gathered as much," he said, strafing his eyes back to Wilson. "Nurses are horrible gossips, and a little politeness goes a very long way when you're talking to them. They're quite… desperate to help out poor, abandoned boys." He cackled, the noise higher in pitch than his usual voice.

Wilson placed a hand over his mouth, staring in horror at the teen before him. House, however, just smirked. "You have _got_ to teach me how to do that…?"

"Bakura," he said, eyes dancing wickedly. "Everyone calls me Bakura."

"His _last name_?" Wilson snapped. "Why would you have his last name?"

Bakura shrugged, glancing at him. "Because it is my name." Then his eyes narrowed. "You and I are going to have problems, aren't we?" He sneered. "I don't like having problems, Wilson. I like to take care of them _right away_." He moved to rise from the bed, and Wilson's face went grey. House immediately stepped between them, placing himself in front of Bakura. Wilson made a choked noise, brown eyes growing wide.

"Hold it," House growled, holding out his cane like a sword. "I don't care _what_ kind of mental problems you have. Let me get one thing straight—you don't hurt any of my crew. At all. You do, and I call in the people with the 'Give Yourself A Hug' jackets."

Bakura stared hard at House's face, his brown eyes darting over his features, as if looking for some weakness or sign of bluff. Something must have amused him, because suddenly he flashed his canines and chuckled. "I love it when you mortals become so flustered over a few injured parties here or there." House's eyes narrowed and Bakura rolled his eyes, waving him off. "Calm yourself, House. I shall not harm your dear coworkers." He paused, looking thoughtful. "Physically, anyway."

House grinned again. "That's all I can ask. What's the harm of a bit of mental scarring?" When Bakura's smile exposed his teeth again, House raised an eyebrow. "So? Can I scan your head? The tests shouldn't be back for awhile yet."

Bakura shrugged, leaning back slightly. "You'll have to take that up with Yadonoushi. I could care less." Then, like flipping a switch, Bakura's eyes softened and his hair seemed to droop. He blinked a few times, rubbing his eyes before looking between House and Wilson.

"Oh," he said, gently, softly, "uhm… I don't mind."

Wilson quirked an eyebrow at him. "Ryou?" The teen smiled—it was peaceful and serene, the exact opposite of Bakura's.

"Yes," Ryou said. He rubbed his right shoulder awkwardly. "I'm _really_ sorry for how rude Yami was to you. He's not very good with people."

House frowned. "Yami?"

Ryou blinked. "Um, that's what I call him. I mean, his name is my surname. It's just too odd…" He trailed off, blinking into space. Then Ryou turned back to the two doctors, his brown eyes focusing on Wilson. "Doctor Wilson, are you going to be okay?"

Wilson shook himself before looking straight at Ryou. "I want to know if _you_ will be okay." Ryou smiled at him.

"I will," he declared. "Yami is difficult at times, and he's never very pleasant, but…" he shrugged, "I couldn't imagine living without him." Ryou paused, glancing at his hands. "Can we get those scans done now?" He smiled slightly, his eyes bright. "I want to see what my brain looks like, too."

----

"Alright, Ryou," Wilson said into the speaker, looking through the tinted glass at the large machine before them, "I just need you… and Bakura… to answer these questions. Both of you. Do you understand?"

"_Okay_." "_Just get on with it. _"

House made a noise beside him, and Wilson looked down at the screen. His eyebrows shot into his hairline. "Wow," he murmured, staring at the colored specks dotting across the grey and black image of Ryou's brain. "House," Wilson looked over at the other man, "what…?"

House smiled back at him. "I'm going to frame these and put them on my walls."

Wilson rolled his eyes, looking back at the computer. He pressed down on the speaker. "Alright, we're starting the questions now. Where were you born?" Wilson thought asking a figment of Ryou's psyche where it was born was absolutely ridiculous, but, as always, House won out in the end.

"_Uhm_," Ryou's voice trickled in, "_Tokyo, Japan_."

"_… Kuru Eruna_."

The screens lit up with flashes and color. House leaned back, blinking at the vivid images. He reached over and pressed the speaker button. "Hey! Stop talking in your head!"

"_Oh, uh, sorry_."

"_Stop apologizing. It's pathetic_."

House snickered, looking over at Wilson. "This kid is so screwed up."

"It's hilarious," Wilson snapped before turning back to the speaker. "Next question…"

----

'_Can this man not make us go faster_?'

'_Quiet, Yami—Doctor Wilson is keeping pace with Doctor House_.'

'_I don't care about a limping gimp. I want to get to our room to double-check my cards_.'

Ryou glanced over his shoulder, to where Doctor Wilson was looking at the fMRI that Doctor House was holding, before turning to face ahead again. While Ryou didn't understand exactly what the different colors meant over the different sections, the two doctors behind him seemed to find it extremely fascinating.

"See there?" Doctor House was saying in a giddy tone. "All those yellow dots? Hyper-usage. And here! Look at where the hippocampus is located!"

Doctor Wilson whistled softly. "Wow… But this is only when… Bakura is talking, right?"

"His memory is better than Ryou's."

Ryou craned his head back to look straight at them. "He has a photographic memory."

Wilson blinked. "But you don't?"

"No," Ryou said, shaking his head. He saw House and Wilson glanced at each other before turning back to the fMRI.

"So," House began slowly, "does that mean that photographic memory doesn't have anything to do with the brain?"

Wilson shrugged. "Either that, or Ryou just can't access that ability because of Bakura."

Ryou felt Bakura's irritation flare, although it was tempered by his dark amusement. '_These mortals are so eager to place things into simple boxes, eager to explain anything they find. It's pathetic. It's amusing._'

'_It's not their fault_,' Ryou interjected. He heard Bakura snort, and Ryou rolled his eyes in return. '_They don't know any better. It's not like there are many humans who have two souls in one body_.'

'_Ignorance has no excuse_.'

Ryou fought not to roll his eyes again and instead turned his attention onto the door of their room as they rounded a corner. '_See? We're almost there. You'll be reunited with your cards in a mo—_'

Ryou froze, blinking as he looked around the hallway, brows furrowing. He leaned forward in his wheelchair, peering left, and then right. As House stepped ahead of Ryou to open the door for Wilson to push him through, Bakura slithered in the back of Ryou's mind, agitated, nervous.

'_Yadonoushi_?' Bakura hissed, and Ryou shifted uneasily in his seat. Ryou felt Bakura wrap himself around his own mind, clinging firmly. Ryou swallowed thickly as Wilson pushed him into his room. Ryou looked around, squinting. Why did everything feel so… off?

"Ryou, are you alright?"

Ryou turned around, frowning at Wilson. "I'm fine…" he said, and pushed himself to his feet.

"Uhhh…"

And immediately stumbled forward a step, leaning over the freshly-made hospital bed. He gripped the white sheets tightly, blinking rapidly as his vision swam.

"Ryou!"

"Tell me what's going on in your head."

Ryou gasped sharply as someone pushed him onto the bed before him. "Dizzy," he wheezed. "Feels like I've never been here before… know I have, though… remember it."

He squinted up at House who was already limping to the doorway. "Hey!" House called into the hallway. "I'm going to need some help in here real soon!" House turned back around and grinned at Ryou. "You have Western equine encephalitis," he said. "You're going to seize in a few moments, but at least you know what's wrong!"

Bakura clawed tighter to Ryou's consciousness, as the dizziness, the reverse déjà vu, the swimming vision worsened, and then everything went black.

----

Two nurses held Ryou firmly on his side while Wilson and House stood back, unable to do much more than watch as Ryou's body slowly began to calm. Just as the last tremors rattled from the thin frame, House's fellows rushed into the room. As the door closed behind them, they were immediately startled into silence. Taub's eyebrows rose sharply upwards.

"What…?"

Wilson looked at him. "Ryou suffered a seizure, another symptom of WEE."

House smirked. "Oh yes, there's wee all over this kid."

Wilson rolled his eyes. "Now you're being crass. It's part of the seizure."

Thirteen's eyes darted between the two of them. "But… the test results came back negative," she said. House and Wilson snapped back to face her. Thirteen held out Ryou's file. "He doesn't have it."

House frowned, turning back to Ryou as the nurses began to strip him of his soiled hospital gown. He leaned heavily on his cane, turning back to his fellows. "Back to the drawing board. Literally."

"Uhm…"

House looked back to the nurses, one of whom had her fingers in Ryou's hair. She stared back, eyes wide. "Did you see this rash?" she asked, stepping back.

Foreman pushed away from the doorway and strode around to the other side of the bed. He took the nurses place, peering between the white hairs to spy the tell-tale bull's-eye shaped rash.

Foreman shook his head, leaning back. "Lyme disease," he said, peering up at the group.

"Just one problem," House said, drawing all eyes to him. He frowned at Ryou's unconscious body. "Lyme Disease doesn't cause seizures."

----MEDICAL STUFF----

WEE virus _or_ Western equine encephalitis virus—A fairly uncommon viral disease found in states west of the Mississippi River. At one point, WEE was one of several viruses that the US thought could make potential biological weapons.

fMRI _or_ functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging—A specialized type of MRI scan that measures heamodynamic response (_blood flow in the brain_) related to neural activity in the brain or spinal cord of humans. Due to its low invasiveness, lack of radiation exposure, and relatively wide availability, fMRI has become the common way to map the brain.

D.I.D. _or_ Dissociative identity disorder—A psychosis in which a single person displays multiple distinct identities (known as alter egos or alters).

Jamais vu—The term used to describe any situation where the observer feels as though they are seeing a situation for the first time, despite rationally knowing they have been in the situation before.


End file.
